The Lakewood Observer :: Read :: 6 :: 21 :: Search For Grandmas New Home Aids Cousins In New Lakewood Venture
11/3/10 4:53 PM
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Search For Grandma’s New Home Aids Cousins In
New Lakewood Venture
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by Bradley Dubin
Some may think it is strange that two big city brothers
and their cousin, ages 29, 30 and 34, purchased an
assisted living community in Ohio. But it makes
perfect sense that the former investment banker, real
estate broker and attorney are now at the helm
of Northwesterly Assisted Living Community in the
heart of Lakewood.
While our Michigan-based family has successfully
owned and operated senior living communities for over 40 years, it wasn’t until our 89-year
old grandmother’s health declined that we decided to follow in our grandfather and fathers’
footsteps. Scott and Tony Kantor, and Bradley Dubin, quit their high-profile jobs and created
Bloomfield Senior Living to focus exclusively on independent living, assisted living and
Alzheimer’s and dementia care.
When it became evident that our grandmother needed daily living assistance, our closely-knit
family confronted the dilemma of where she should live and began hunting for the
perfect assisted living community. It had to provide the special assistance she needed and
the individuality, independence and privacy she still desired. It had to be more than an
institutionally disguised, dime-a-dozen, profit-driven business chanting disingenuous slogans
“we care for America’s seniors.” We were searching, with a sharp eye, for her new home,
a lifestyle, and a place that could deliver the socialization, personal attention and platinum
care she deserved.
Building upon our family’s values, principals, reputation and three generations of experience,
while taking into account the frustrations associated with our personal search, the trio
recognized a shift in the industry and set out on a mission to create the perfect assisted living
community by redefining senior care with a more modern, less expensive, lifestyle approach
to health care.
Northwesterly was one of our first acquisitions this year. We also acquired two properties in
Indiana and two in South Carolina. Since January, Bloomfield has acquired 5 senior living
communities, 306 collective units, for nearly $11 million from bankrupt senior housing giant,
Sunwest Management, Inc. With our family’s conservative ideology and long-standing
philosophy of not being over-levered, Bloomfield paid all cash for Northwesterly and the
South Carolina properties and conservatively financed the Indiana properties. Our philosophy
of operating Northwesterly with no debt provides residents and their families comfort that we
will be around both now and in the future.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the number of people ages 65 and older is expected
to more than double from 39 million today to 87 million by 2030. This is a result of the
surge in births worldwide post World War II, the Baby Boom Generation. Since aging
Boomers will live longer today than ever before, many seniors entering their retirement years
will require some level of care. In fact, the number of people who will require assistance with
activities of daily living is projected to increase by 51% over the next 20 years. Whether
resulting from gradual deterioration that customarily accompanies the aging process, a need
for social interaction with their contemporaries, or another dramatic triggering event such as
the death of a spouse, a fall in the home or a medical crisis, chances are that many of you
will confront the daunting task of making difficult choices regarding your parent or
grandparent.
NBC brought these issues to the forefront when it aired the pilot episode, “the Good Son,” of
its sophisticated and widely acclaimed, Emmy-Award winning sitcom Fraser. Fraser and his
brother, Niles, are seen scrutinizing brochures while debating whether or not to put their
father, who could no longer live alone, in a senior living residence.
http://lakewoodobserver.com/read/6/21/search-for-grandmas-new-home-aids-cousins-in-new-lakewood-venture
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EVENTSCALENDAR
November, 2010
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November, 2010
UPCOMING EVENTS
Submit New Event
November 3, 2010:
7:00 PM - LAKEWOOD
HISTORICAL SOCIETY:
Recently Historic: Houses
from the 1930s – 1950s
7:30 PM - 8:45 PM - 3 Week
Beginners Yoga Workshop
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The Lakewood Observer :: Read :: 6 :: 21 :: Search For Grandmas New Home Aids Cousins In New Lakewood Venture
Studying brochures is only the first step in preparing to find the perfect fit for your loved one.
In recognizing the repercussions if mom, dad, grandma or grandpa, winds up in the wrong
place, I am sure we all wish that we could simply give the Magic 8-Ball a childhood shake
and be presented the answer “without a doubt” when asking whether they will be happy. As
much as we would like to simply rely upon a novelty toy, the only fool proof way to ensure
that you are making the right decision is to trust your intuition and conduct due diligence.
While preparing to become the new owners of Northwesterly, we began assembling our own
due diligence - the yellow post-it notes that had been plastered everywhere from our bedside
tables to office desks, the frayed napkins covered with chicken scratch and random
newspaper clippings, magazine articles and blogs that had been graffitied with our neon
yellow highlighters. While searching for grandma’s perfect new home, we had unknowingly
come up with innovative ways to establish Northwesterly as the perfect community and a
place our grandmother would be proud to call home.
Our unique vision of redefining assisted living is the ideal combination of exceptionally
developed programming, customized care, personalized supportive services, a diverse menu
of wellness/exercise programs, professional expertise and care by design. Transforming our
ideas to realities, we are near completion of an exciting $1 million remodel of the
Northwesterly, which includes a new dining room, additional private dining areas for family
gatherings and parties, a community bistro, a new pub/ice cream parlor, updated retreat,
media, game and activity rooms, a brand new beauty salon and chapel and modern
furnishings throughout. Our residents will also enjoy the renovations from the comfort of their
own newly remodeled suites. Separating ourselves from the prior corporate ownership, we
are intimately involved in operations, will be adding new services and amenities and as a
long term holder that doesn’t have partners, will continue to re-invest back into the
community with philosophy of holding and managing our properties for generations making it
more about the care and less about short term investor returns.
This is not a story, however, about one family, one grandmother or one assisted living
community. This story is about thousands of families, thousands of grandmothers and
thousands of assisted living communities. While our journey took us from finding the perfect
fit for grandma to running Northwesterly in a manner that would make her proud, your
journey to find the perfect home away from home for your loved one will be equally
successful with careful planning. In next week’s article, we will share tips for finding the
perfect senior living residence for your loved one.
Read More on
Volume 6, Issue 21, Posted 8:25 AM, 10.21.2010
11/3/10 4:53 PM
November 4, 2010:
2:00 PM - 5:00 PM - Flu Shot
Clinic
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM - Women
Take Flight - Free screening of
the documentary Flyabout and
presentation by Lakewood
Resident Lynda Meeks
7:00 PM - LHS Marching Band
Concert
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM - State
Senator Nina Turner Speaks at
LWV Event
November 5, 2010:
10:30 AM - 1:00 PM - Eyebrow
Class & Style Mapping
5:30 PM - 8:30 PM - Soups of
the World Benefit
7:00 PM - 10:30 PM - "JAZZ
YOU LIKE IT"
8:00 PM - Wings by Arthur
Kopit
November 6, 2010:
9:00 AM - 2:00 PM - Harvest
Festival at Barton Center
1:00 PM - 8:00 PM - Screw
Factory Artists' Open Studio
4:00 PM - 9:00 PM - Joanne
Stepp Benefit Clambake
6:00 PM - FALL GUYS AND
FEMME FATALES: Film Noir in
the Forties The Killers (1946)
Directed by Robert Siodmak
Not Rated
7:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Mud In
Yer Eye Contra Dance
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM - Westlake
Wine Tasting
8:00 PM - Wings by Arthur
Kopit
9:00 PM - 2:00 PM - Direct
Sellers' Annual Holiday
Shopping at The Beck
November 7, 2010:
12:30 PM - 4:00 PM - Harvest
Pork Chop Dinner
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The Lakewood Observer :: Read :: 6 :: 21 :: Search For Grandmas New Home Aids Cousins In New Lakewood Venture
11/3/10 4:53 PM
3:00 PM - Wings by Arthur
Kopit
3:00 PM - Lakewood can run
its own daily circulator bus
without RTA, like Brunswick
does. The RTA Friday
afternoon Lakewood circulator
is inconvenient and designed
to fail, so has few riders. The
former RTA daily Lakewood
circulator had many riders.
November 9, 2010:
7:00 PM - 7:00 PM CLEVELAND’S GOLDEN AGE
OF PRINT: Rosie the Reporter
November 10, 2010:
5:30 PM - Cleveland AMerican
Marketing Association
Heinen's: Local Company
Success
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM - Live Well
Ladies' Night Out "Find Your
Fabulous"
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM - Updates on
Colon Cancer
November 11, 2010:
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM - Veterans
Day Commemoration
7:00 PM - BOOKED FOR
MURDER BOOK CLUB: New
York City All the Flowers are
Dying by Lawrence Block
7:30 PM - Pagliacci/La Voix
Humaine
8:00 PM - LHS Barnstormers'
"The Odd Couple"
November 12, 2010:
9:00 AM - 2nd Annual Holiday
Bid & Buy Online Auction
begins!
7:00 PM - 10:30 PM - "JAZZ
YOU LIKE IT"
8:00 PM - 12:00 PM - Get Hep
Swing Dance
8:00 PM - LHS Barnstormers'
"The Odd Couple"
November 13, 2010:
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The Lakewood Observer :: Read :: 6 :: 21 :: Search For Grandmas New Home Aids Cousins In New Lakewood Venture
11/3/10 4:53 PM
12:00 AM - 6th Annual True
Value Vintage/Ramifications
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM - Fifth
Annual Vendors Fair
6:00 PM - THE LAKEWOOD
PUBLIC CINEMA: Aliens (1986)
Directed by James Cameron
Rated R
6:00 PM - 11:00 PM - Mayor's
Ball
8:00 PM - LHS Barnstormers'
"The Odd Couple"
November 14, 2010:
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM - SUNDAY
WITH THE FRIENDS: The
Dinglehop Sisters
5:00 PM - 8:30 PM - Classical
Revolution Cleveland Classical Music for the People!
November 15, 2010:
7:30 PM - 9:30 PM - City
Council Meeting
November 16, 2010:
6:30 PM - 8:00 PM - Beyond
Salads-An Introduction to the
Raw Food Revolution
7:00 PM - KNIT & LIT BOOK
CLUB
7:00 PM - 8:00 PM Understanding Your Credit
November 17, 2010:
7:00 PM - MEET THE AUTHOR:
Gimme Rewrite, Sweetheart:
Tales from the Last Glory Days
of Cleveland Newspapers by
John H. Tidyman
7:00 PM - 9:00 PM - First Time
Home Buying Seminar
November 18, 2010:
7:00 PM - BUSINESS BOOK
TALK with Tim Zaun and
Friends
November 19, 2010:
12:00 AM - Irving Berlin's White
Christmas - the Musical
1:00 PM - 2:00 PM - Simplify
the Holidays
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The Lakewood Observer :: Read :: 6 :: 21 :: Search For Grandmas New Home Aids Cousins In New Lakewood Venture
11/3/10 4:53 PM
7:00 PM - 10:30 PM - "JAZZ
YOU LIKE IT"
November 20, 2010:
6:00 PM - FIVE STAR FILMS:
Radio Days (1987) Directed by
Woody Allen Rated PG
November 21, 2010:
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM - SUNDAY
WITH THE FRIENDS: Opera for
Everyone
6:00 PM - 9:00 PM - Blizzard
Bash Benefit Concert
November 22, 2010:
10:00 AM - 3:00 PM - Harrison
Elementary School PTA
Presents: 1st Annual Holiday
Craft Show
2:30 PM - 3:30 PM Osteoporosis & Core Training
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